Advancing Our Knowledge of Hockey Through Statistical Analysis

Category: Pittsburgh Penguins

1 – Alexander Semin had some choice words for the NHL’s poster boy, Sidney Crosby. The Caps forward is off to a hot start and with the team being hailed as favourites to win their division again, didn’t hold back any punches. In short, Semin believes Crosby’s overrated – and that Chicago’s Patrick Kane is the superior player. He believes that stats, in particular Crosby’s, have made him out to be a better player than he actually is. I’m never turned off by some good sound bytes, but this sort of personal trash talk doesn’t really stoke any fires for

The Penguins are living proof that patience pays off. Bite the lip, play through 82 games knowing that you won’t get a sniff of the playoffs, and hope that your drafting holds up. It was just four years ago when the Penguins won the draft lottery and unsurprisingly took Sidney Crosby with their first pick. Just a year later they took another highly-touted player in Evgeni Malkin. Neither still able to grow much facial hair, the young duo have already managed to reach the finals, and although the result was not what they had in mind, it’s a sign of

– Mike Smith proved that he can handle the load. And it also proved that the Lightning need more time to gel together, after their choppy game. Speaking of turnovers, Andrej Meszaros played one of his more subpar games. I still question whether or not he deserves the ‘A’. The Lightning couldn’t get anything going, and none of the lines other than the top line showed any real chemistry. If it wasn’t for Smith the game could’ve been a blowout had the Rangers not been so rusty. – The Rangers’ top line looks good, but the second line, other than

“Vicarious liability.” That’s the technical term for the liability that is imposed on the employer for the conduct of his/her employee, on the grounds that the employer should be held accountable for third party losses. Bruce Dowbiggin at the Calgary Herald argues that the recent turn of events in the Steve Moore case could set a precedent to the NHL’s policy of allowing “extreme violence” in the sport. This trial is extremely significant for the NHL because unlike the Marty McSorley or Dino Ciccarelli case, this is a civil case, not criminal. Marc Crawofrd has vehemently denied any responsibility for

The best way to get a free meal is to just visit potential new homes for the Penguins. Just ask Mario Lemieux. In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Lemieux revealed that it was never a possibility in his mind that the Penguins would leave Pittsburgh. In order to pressure the city into funding and building a new arena, Lemieux made trips to Las Vegas and Kansas City out of formality, but really came back with nothing but a full stomach. Lemieux and Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle called the city’s bluff and reached a new deal for a new arena in March of

The NHL just recently released their preseason schedule, and you can see the entire list here. A couple things that are sticking points… – I like the fact that instead of having regular season games in Europe they’re playing preseason games, and against European clubs, no less. The games mean less to them and their jetlag will be overcome by Opening Night. Following in David Stern‘s footsteps (surprise), Gary Bettman has decided to try and market the NHL game globally, even though a large number of current NHLers are not from North America, unlike the NBA, which averages about 1-2

Here are a few of my thoughts about the trade deadline action. Short Term Winners Pittsburgh Penguins – Adding Hossa, Dupuis and Gill has the potential to make them a really scary team. Think about it. In recent weeks the top line of Malkin, Sykora and Malone have been one of the best lines in the NHL and over the next week or two you will add Crosby and Hossa to fill out a 1A line. Losing Armstrong and Christensen will hurt the third line but with a top 2 lines that good they may not need a third line.

New Jersey Devils Strengths: -Martin Brodeur Weaknesses: -No longer have that anchor on defense. Question Marks: -Can the Devils defensive system work without a stud defenseman? -Can Elias and Gionta regain the chemistry of the past couple years without Gomez? -Can Parise improve on last years break out season. Outlook: The Devils success over the past decade has largely been due to having stellar goaltending and a nearly as stellar defense. But over the past 3 or 4 years they have lost Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rafalski off their defence and the question is, can they be just

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Welcome to HockeyAnalysis.com, where I strive to get a better understanding of the game of hockey through the use of statistical analysis. I hope you enjoy whatever time you spend here and maybe even learn a little. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop me an e-mail at david (at) hockeyanalysis.com.